Executing dos command from php

[sandiphw]

Hi,
How can I execute some dos command from php ? I have tried exec() fuction but it hangs my system. I am using php4.3.2 with apache 2x on winXP.

Please help

[Kudose]

Have you tried [man]system[/man] or [man]passthru[/man]?

[sandiphw]

I have tried the both fuction. I believe , I am wrong in some basic fact. Is this require any path setting in server or script ?

[chriswheat]

What dos commands are you trying to run?

I on php 4.3.8 and windows 2000 server found that I can run simple command like help, ping, tracert. I however could not run netstop or netstart commands. I don't believe that it is a php problem rather a windows issue, even from a .bat file saved in the wwwroot the command would just loop, if I then took the same .bat file an moved it out of the wwwroot it worked?

I need to do a sybase prune on an hourly basis so putting a php file out of the wwwroot, that stopped the service then did the sql statements, then started the service. Then I used phpcommand line with the windows task scheduler. If your needs are similar you can reffer to this thread:
http://www.phpbuilder.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10288993

Good Luck!
Chris